Inter
by Wierdkid20
Summary: Change never comes quickly, not for humans or for gems. It is not one event that radically changes everything, but rather little ones that slowly build to a climax. Homeworld has a lot of healing to do, as well as the many people who have spent so long trying to make it a better place.
1. Chapter 1

She didn't hurt anymore. That was one of the first things Domina had noticed when she came out of her gem. Her knees didn't pop or creak when she crouched, her elbow didn't hurt when she manipulated her screens and her ankle didn't ache when the local air pressure was too high.

It was unnerving.

She didn't have a good sense of time anymore, there were no more body rhythms that she had to keep in order to break up the day.

She still had to sleep though, once every few weeks, and when she did... the dreams were odd, like they weren't from her own head. And she did not like the implications of where they were coming from.

But in the early days, those first few months back on Homeworld, she barely had time to get the little amount of sleep she did need, let alone contemplate that some parts of her mother might still linger.

The headship had been destroyed hours before the New Rebellion's assault on the citadel, taking several buildings out with it and damaging countless gems. Thank the stars they had the Crystal Gems on their side now, Steven's healing spit and Rose Quartz's fountain saved dozens. The rebuilding work took months, during which time Domina stayed in the citadel, which was in marginally better condition than the rest of Homeworld.

And yet there was still more to do.

The Colonization fleet had to return to Homeworld for the first time in nearly eight thousand years, and Domina finally saw the full effects of the rebellion Blue Diamond had led on her home. And none of that helped in her dealings with the diamond.

The New Rebellion needed incorporated into Homeworld's ruling class, the same ruling class that needed desperately reworked. It took months to establish a council to keep the diamonds in check, to make sure that average gems didn't get lost amongst the empire. And even two years later it was a point of contention among the three diamonds.

Laws needed rewritten,and while gems did show up to observe their meetings regarding the laws, that did occasionally complicate things. And it definitely didn't stop any arguments. If anything, it brought more gems into the conversations. Which was what Domina had intended. What she hadn't intended was all of said gems to approach her. Sure she was the all powerful White Diamond, but Yellow's intimidating reputation still chased gems away and Blue Diamond flat out refused to interact with any gem lower that a garnet. Not many gems even considered speaking to the pearls.

In fact the only thing that was still the same was Stevima. Every few months, Domina got a brief reprieve on Earth while they uncorrupted gems. Stevima acted like nothing was different, though they joked about the change in their fusing. De-corrupting gems got easier, though their upper limit for restoring them was 2-3 gems at a time. It did mean that Domina left the beach house in usually an elated state, maybe with gems that elected to return with her to Homeworld. Though, even on Earth, everything she had formerly enjoyed about the planet was muted through her new hard light body.

There was one upside though.

"Now this is what I really wanted to show you," Forest said as she walked Domina through one of the hangars in Homeworld's engineering district. Domina was here on an 'inspection' officially, though this was Yellow's responsibility, not hers. The pearl's new cape provided minimal drag as she dashed forward to one particular ship.

"Is this that project going off the Sun Incinerator data?" Domina asked. Forest flinched a bit at the mention of the ship her emerald had previously been in charge of.

"Somewhat," She said, opening the ship. Domina followed her inside. The ship was pristine, and as per usual, much bigger on the inside. "This is mostly a byproduct of the ongoing project to overhaul our outpost station designs. This ship is fast, but also self sustaining, with a quark based gravity engine, combining the improvements the other diamond made to the antimatter converter back in Era 1."

"That Yellow made?" Domina asked, mildly amused, "You do know that there is a Blue Diamond as well." Forest made an unimpressed noise and ducked into a maintenance panel, Domina sighed and crawled in after her. "Also, you are allowed to use the doors, Forest."

"I don't tell you how to do your job, Diamond." Forest said, sliding into the engine control room.

"Point taken." Domina did have admit that this was faster than going through the ship the conventional way.

"And all that I mentioned is housed here and running on the same platform as the reformation orbs, thanks to Yellow's contributions to the field." Forest finished. Domina blinked.

"That's amazing..." She said, inspecting the engine carefully. She pulled up a diagnostic pad and scrolled through the information. "Could we apply it to the fleet vessels? The amount of times we were delayed due to a break in a minor part." Forest laughed.

"Domina, what do you think this is?" Forest asked. She leaned forward and manipulated the diagnostic panel to show a schematic and there was the whole were the bays for the injectors, analyzation equipment, room for enough gems to set up an outpost on a planet, and room for plenty of drop ship pods.

"Oh my stars." Domina said, her face slowly widening to a smile.

"And it's ready for deployment as soon as Moss Agate signs off on it." Forest said, her voice going smug. "I assume that letting White Diamond test fly it would improve its chances of being accepted." Domina's smile faded immediately.

"I... can't fly this, Forest, The control panels designed and produced after era 2 only interface with hard light." Domina said. Forest blinked at her.

"Did... I misinterpret the new nature of your form?" The pearl asked, tentatively poking the Diamonds arm. "Are you organic still?"

"No, I'm hard-" Domina cut herself off, and her eyes went wide. And then Forest's cape wrapped around her as the door wooshed open and the air sped Domina along to the flight deck. Forest sighed and straightened her appearance modifiers, muttering.

"Diamonds."


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, mostly cause I mean... pearls but also different formats are nice to work with. Anyway, hang in there, big episode next week! hopefully I get the next chapter ready before that...**

 **enjoy! see you monday**

 **CONFIDENTIAL REPORT: FORMER MEMBERS OF THE NEW REBELLION**

FOR WHITE DIAMOND'S ACCESS ONLY

* * *

OFFICIAL RECORDED DESIGNATION: Pearl formerly belonging to Blue Diamond

COMMON NAME: Blue Pearl

PREVIOUS TITLE: Central Leader of New Rebellion

CURRENT WHEREABOUTS: Homeworld Governing Council, common rep leader

* * *

Blue Pearl had been privy to most meetings the Diamonds had held between each other. But the first meeting of Era 3 was different on so many levels.

There was a difference between standing against the wall, straining to glean the slightest scrap of information from Diamonds speaking in hushed whispers, and standing across from her former Diamond, arguing vehemently on the subject of how to reorganize diplomatic coalitions while the two other diamonds and half of Homeworld started on in fascination.

Blue decided she liked being away from the wall.

* * *

OFFICIAL RECORDED DESIGNATION: Pearl formerly belonging to Jet Facet 1N9P Cut 1RN

COMMON NAME: Jet

PREVIOUS TITLE: Commander of New Rebellion's forces on Homeworld, Saboteur

CURRENT WHEREABOUTS: Homeworld Governing Council, Blue Diamond communication and request monitor

* * *

 _How could you do this? To me! I have treated you well, have I not? Perhaps with too much leniency if you would dare defy the authority like this!_

"Jet."

 _Leniency? Yes, because leaving me to stand in a hallway for hours if not days, is leniency!_

 _How dare you! How dare you betray my trust in thinking you deserved luxury in my spire! I should have told them not to bother to bring you back. They should have just shattered you in the street!_

"Jet?"

 _The holding cell was dark. So dark. And the agates were ruthless. And the names came pouring out of her, no matter how hard she fought._

"Jet!" Blue's voice snapped Jet back to reality. Gems didn't sleep and from what Pink said of Domina's nightmares, Jet was glad she didn't need to give her memories an opportunity to haunt her.

"Yes?" Jet asked, clearing the shadows from her mind. The others around the table were shooting her worried glances.

"Are you alright?" Feldspar asked.

"Fine, never better."

* * *

OFFICIAL RECORDED DESIGNATION: Feldspar Facet 2H6F Cut INVALID

COMMON NAME: Feldspar

PREVIOUS TITLE: Transportation and Joint Head of Omega Base 7.932

CURRENT WHEREABOUTS: Homeworld Governing Council, inner colony enforcer

* * *

From the moment she emerged, Feldspar remembered being on the run. Her kindergarten had been on an inner colonies moon, terraformed right after the rebellion. It was empty when she emerged, and she knew that wasn't how it should be.

She looked down at herself and just _knew_ she was wrong. So she ran, and hid in the under parts of the moon. She watched as other Feldspars and Muscovites emerged and disappeared onto ships taking them to do their assigned task. And eventually she made her escape, as an inert gem packed into a box of spare parts.

Then when she reformed in the heart of Homeworld's warehouse district she kept running.

Homeworld was more dangerous but there were also more off colors, more gems like her, all also scurrying from place to place, trying to eek out some sort of existence amongst the catacombs of Homeworld. And eventually she ran into Red. And Red was the first person that told her that maybe she shouldn't have to keep running.

And now, several thousand years later she wasn't running anymore. It wasn't all better, she still noticed disgusted looks from elites out of the corner of her eye. But she walked on Homeworld streets freely, with other gems, treating her as a person. She only wished Red could see it.

* * *

OFFICIAL RECORDED DESIGNATION: Pearl formerly belonging to White Diamond

COMMON NAME: Pink

PREVIOUS TITLE: Requisitions and Logistics

CURRENT WHEREABOUTS: Homeworld Governing Council, White diamond Communication and request monitor

* * *

Since they had first formed Sunstone on Earth, the relationship between Pink Pearl and Domina had relaxed considerably. And it stayed that way.

Granted, their relationship had always been strange. Domina had relied on her heavily from the time she was born and Pearl guarded her with a ferocity that was abnormal for any gem, let alone a pearl. But there had always been that drive to be proper in the eyes of the rest of the empire. The same drive that forced Pink a few steps behind her diamond, and made her hold back her counsel. And the same one that kept Domina from looking to her for reassurance in public.

But now with the barriers down there was no need to go back to the way things were. They attacked the running of the empire together with Domina taking on much of the day to day interactions that needed to be done with colony heads and district leaders as she had before, and Pearl filtering through requests and reports. But it was different. Before, she wouldn't have dared to correct Domina on the figures for floatanium mining within the inner colonies and openly given several bixbites a price of her nacre over how the bismuths under their command were being given shoddy materials. And before, Domina wouldn't have been able to defer to her on matters that related to era one, or to look to her for answer about projects commenced well before her time.

It was so much easier to do all of this together

* * *

OFFICIAL RECORDED DESIGNATION: Fusion of Pink Sapphire Facet 1F3 Cut 7GH and Pearl formerly belonging to Sodalite Facet 0Y5A Cut 2YR

COMMON NAME: Mauve

PREVIOUS TITLE: Long term planning

CURRENT WHEREABOUTS: Crystal System Colony Planet Earth

* * *

The stone here was soft and still full of life. Mauve ran a hand over the side of the cliff face carefully. It was still blank, she was still finding her bearings on Earth. There were so many possibilites, so many changes, so unlike Homeworld. She could fill a thousand cliff faces with the lines of the futures of this place.

Mauve could see Steven looking at her from the deck of the beach house. This wasn't the first time she had come out here. And the wall was still blank. Not that she didn't see any futures, precisely the opposite. But how many futures had she carved out? How many had been destroyed by the tremors within Homeworld, and the changes on its surface? And truly was this all there was for her to do?

For once, her components were safe, _she_ was safe. The sun overhead was warm, the breeze was soft and the sea was quiet. Mauve looked down at the chisel in her hand and carefully returned it to her gem. There would be time for the future later. For now, she would enjoy the present.

* * *

OFFICIAL RECORDED DESIGNATION: Pearl formerly belonging to Emerald Facet 2F6T Cut 9GH

COMMON NAME: Forest

PREVIOUS TITLE: Omega Base 7.932 maintenance

CURRENT WHEREABOUTS: Head of Yellow District fleet engineering

* * *

Forest liked her new job. She truly did. It gave her the ability to enact plans she had been considering since she was made. It provided her with the resources to try out new ideas and the access to new research as soon as it was completed.

But it wasn't all good. Forest was familiar with the elite of the Yellow Court, and, accounting for some minor adjustments from the civil war, it remained largely the same. Meaning that the gems she was head of she was also familiar with. Which of course also included her Emera- Emerald 9GH.

Ideally, she would never have to meet with Emerald 9GH, Admiral and former commander of the Sun Incinerator. But ideal situations rarely presented themselves, and sure enough, Forest found herself in a meeting with her- with Emerald 9GH.

"The Empire's fleet has better things to do than test fly the crude machinings of a pearl." Emerald said, staring at Forest impassively. Forest couldn't meet her eye and she hated herself for it. Forest could shout at Yellow Diamond to get out of her maintenance closet, but couldn't tell a gem that she was in charge of that she was wrong.

"Th-they've all been fully vetted in trials th-there is no reason to furth-ther delay-" Forest stammered out, struggling to raise her eye off the tables surface, her cape suddenly felt as if it weighed 6 tons.

"And I said no. Even under these unnatural circumstances, my say over the fleet still stands, _Pearl._ " And that would have been the end of it if the door to the conference room hadn't opened.

"My apologies, my previous meeting ran long." Yellow Diamond said as she strode into the room.

"My Diamond!" Emerald's eye went wide as she snapped a salute. "I wasn't aware that we would be graced with your radiant presence." Yellow Diamond rolled her eyes, lowered herself in a chair and looked expectantly at Forest. Forest could meet her eyes and saw what a gem might call worry on the diamond's face.

"Well I'm not starting over for you, Diamond." She snapped, somewhat relieved. Emerald tensed abruptly and Forest could already hear the reprimand coming.

"You dare-"

"Emerald, do be quiet." Yellow Diamond said. "I would think you would be more interested in what Forest has come up with to redeem yourself for the disaster that was your command of the Sun Incinerator." Forest felt herself relax, and forced a cocky smile back on her face. She could do this.

* * *

OFFICIAL RECORDED DESIGNATION: Pearl formerly belonging to Fluorspar Facet 3H2L Cut 0HI

COMMON NAME: Lilac

PREVIOUS TITLE: Refugee, base Security

CURRENT WHEREABOUTS: Shattered; inspiration for Domestic law 15.821 requiring all gems to have the option to undertake combat training no matter their position.

* * *

Her Fluorspar had insisted on tweaking her appearance for days on end. Lilac was to be representative of Fluorspars achievements. But as a loyal member of White Diamond's court Fluorspar was in danger, when Lilac saw the first opportunity she ran into the depths of Homeworld. When she saw a chance to get to safety, to join the New Rebellion she lunged for it. When she saw a chance to become more, to defend herself, she jumped at it. And When Homeworld invaded the base, to take away all that she had run to, she charged them with her trident. Even if it meant being the first casualty in the battle for the omega base.

* * *

OFFICIAL RECORDED DESIGNATION: Pearl formerly belonging to Amber Facet 5B8Y Cut 2KL

COMMON NAME: Honey

PREVIOUS TITLE: Refugee, record keeper

CURRENT WHEREABOUTS: Shattered; inspiration for Domestic law 19.413 creating an emergency services organization serving empire wide.

* * *

Her amber had been part of Yellow Diamond's court and had been truly worried about her during the outbreak of the civil war. Her amber ensured that she got off Homeworld, with important information that surely someone could use. When she arrived at Omega Base 7.932 that information ensured that more pearls and other gems were safe. She pushed a group of rubies through a section divide just as it decompressed, saving yet more.

* * *

OFFICIAL RECORDED DESIGNATION: Pearl formerly belonging to Pyrope Facet 2M5B Cut 9OL

COMMON NAME: Red

PREVIOUS TITLE: Communications and Joint Head of Omega Base 7.932

CURRENT WHEREABOUTS: Shattered, inspiration for Domestic law 10.694 requiring all gems to have access to general communications and transmission systems no matter class

* * *

Blue Pearl had first found her rebuilding a receiver to pick up transmissions three sectors away. Of course, that wasn't the first radio Red had built. Her pyrope wasn't... indulgent but she certainly turned a blind eye to the tinkerings of her pearl, provided she kept up with her assigned duties.

Granted, that didn't extend to discovering that her pearl was monitoring troop movements on the outer edges of gem occupied space. Jet got her out, and Feldspar kept her going even when she was terrified. Without her, she wouldn't have been able to step up and lead when it seemed like the entire rebellion had collapsed. Without her, she would have crumbled when Blue Diamond led her coup against the rest of the authority. And without Feldspar, Red would have never been brave enough to hold her ground in the communication booth of the Omega base, downloading the words that would change the empire.

-REMAINING REPORT TRUNCATED FOR LENGTH-


	3. Chapter 3

**So this chapters a little short, I had a few things I needed to do with it and to be honest, theres a new episode tonight and I'm mostly going to be screaming about that this evening... and most of the week. I'll make it up to you guys next week with a Stevima chapter**

 **Thanks to squish for betaing, I hope you all enjoy tonights episode, and I will see you next week!**

The transmission had not surprised Blue Diamond. While Yellow had been White's conqueror, Blue had been White's diplomat. She knew that others in the galactic community regarded them much like an experiment gone wrong. And she was privy to the brief moments when White's facade fell. And just briefly, the eldest gem was vulnerable to her memories of the past, drawn up by those meetings. White was never an infallible pillar of strength to her.

Despite this, she was not completely devoid of ties to Homeworld. She saw the beauty of these other civilizations and returned, knowing that they could not simply survive as a machine within the cosmos. There had to be a reason to expand, to seek things out, even if it was only to make their empire shine brighter than all the rest. Because of her, the Homeworld upper class fell into place, with the sapphires and lapises, artisans and historians were created to make their empire _mean_ something.

And for so much time that occupied her. When Pink came along, she had something to drive _her._ All of them gained a certain softness from Pink, the first Diamond to emerge in an empire at its prime. But Blue was the first to see her, and Blue was the one that took interest where White was distant and Yellow was impatient with Pink's development.

Pink may have been Yellow's failure, but she was the Authority's star. Pulling the rest of them into her gravity, bringing them closer together. Stars, she made White laugh! That surely had to count for something.

And when Pink...

Her memories were back now, she remembered the fear and rage when she heard Pink had been taken captive, and she felt that same anger snap when she heard that quartz's impertinent demands. And she remembered the core of her very being breaking when Pink's gem shattered.

Five-thousand years in mourning had kept her anger sharp, had caused her to act rashly. But when the reality of what she had done hit her, there was nothing to do but keep going. And even now, knowing the truth of what had happened, she wasn't sure she blamed White now, but it didn't matter. Because White was gone. And no matter how much she flexed her authority, how many speeches she gave, or how many minds she altered, Domina was _not_ White Diamond.

White was as gone as Pink was. And Blue didn't see how Yellow could just go on as if nothing had happened, how she could allow her idolizing of White to pull her into something so erroneous.

But Domina was still in charge, acting as White Diamond, and she was determined to see this new Homeworld work. And... it seemed like Blue was alone in thinking it wouldn't. Granted, it was better than being bubbled or shattered. But even Yellow had put a wall of formality between them that hadn't previously existed. And in these meetings to further change her home, Blue Diamond found herself in opposition to the others. She wasn't restricted but a pearl was shadowing her, watching her movements. Homeworld's well-defined lines between the castes were being blurred. And in a way, it was her fault.

Blue Diamond just wished she could have seen this coming.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey everyone! over the season finale yet? no? good me neither. Anyway, there's a Stevima chapter here and I had a lot of fun writing it because I do love Stevima. Anyway! enjoy, I've got plans cooking and two months (roughly) to figure out how I'm going to write the next fic. I'm super excited for it.**

 **Thanks to Squish for Betaing, enjoy the chapter!**

 _High, middle, low._

Memories stabilize under a gentle hand, a smoother song pulls their form together.

 _High, middle, low._

You're safe now. You're you. You're whole.

 _High, middle, low._

A glow of light, expanding, twisting, and then settling and dropping onto soft sand.

Stevima smiled as they opened their eyes and saw three, confused and wobbly, gems staring at the crowd gathered around them. These four were Crystal Gems, two quartzes, a pyrope, and a tin that Steven had been hearing stories about while he worked with them over the past few days.

Stevima took a step back away from the healed gems as Biggs and Bismuth rushed them, Garnet and Pearl close behind. They felt... good.

"So Stev, you done for the month?" Amethyst asked lazily. The purple gem leaned against the structural support for the beach house porch. Usually the answer would have been a yes, followed by Domina gratefully pulling back into herself, and Stevima's two components would go their separate ways. But now, there was no pull from anyone, nothing but the wind and warmth of the afternoon sun felt good, they could taste the salt of the sea air on their tongue in an experience not new, but heartachingly familiar, and there was no doubt about who's heart was aching.

"Nah." Stevima said finally. "'Whiter than normal' doesn't have anything to do for at least the rest of the day." They let their bagpipes dissolve through their fingers and turned towards the town proper. "I think I'm going to get some bits, you wanna come with?"

"Yeah I do!" Amethyst pushed herself off the column and together they wandered down to the fry shop.

 _Which stomach does the food go in?_ Stevima, or maybe Domina, thought, though that wasn't going to be their problem by the end of all this. From a bolder, more Steven-y, side of themselves Stevima's head was immediately filled with similar conversations that had been had with Connie. Connie, who got out of school at three and had recently started drivers ed. And Steven thought that Greg, or maybe Pearl, would take her driving cause she was still having issues with passing and-

"Stevima!" Amethyst shouted, her voice amplified through a hand that had been transformed into a bullhorn. A well placed gust of wind was the only thing that saved the remainder of their bits.

"Whaaaat?" Stevima snapped out of their thoughts.

"I said, are you sure you feel alright after all that? Usually your not around long enough to ask cause Domina's in such a hurry."

"Oh, yeah." Stevima shrugged, "I feel weird but I am like 25% more gem now so that figures,"

"What kinda weird?" Amethyst asked, shoving the carton into her mouth.

"Human? Does that make sense? Like I've got a organic body for the first time... again?" Stevima said, trying to figure out exactly how they should explain it. "Well the 'Best worst gem' would feel about the same right?" Amethyst made a confused face,

"Uh... no?" Amethyst said "I mean, I'm pretty sure Smoky's all light." Amethyst poked Stevima's side, where the skin was uncovered by Steven's shirt. "Yeah, you're squishy."

"Well yeah, I know that." Stevima, a sinking feeling forming in their stomach, they handed the rest of the bits to Amethyst.

"So... are you alright?" Amethyst repeated, she didn't eat the bits, instead throwing the fry remnants to a passing seagulls and taking a singular, nervous bite out of the carton.

"I'm fine," Stevima said pointedly. They tugged on the bottom of their coat. "I don't have any responsibilities outside of playing the worst song in the universe over and over again." They stopped at the end of the pier and hopped up to sit on the railing. "I don't have an intergalactic empire's worth of gems clamoring for my attention, memories that aren't mine playing in my head or a sense that everything is constantly falling apart. And I definitely don't have any secrets that my mother left behind looming over me or the thought that I'm not actually my own person or that I'll never be able to get the memory of my friend dying feet away from me out of my head." Amethyst looked up at them for a long moment before climbing up to join them.

"Dang, dude," She said finally. Stevima nodded.

"Yeah, these knuckleheads have issues." Stevima said then hesitated. "I'm ok though and I think they like that." They sat in silence for a little longer and watched the sun begin to set. "But it kind of sucks that the only time I get to be around is when I've got a job to do, thank goodness 'heir head' misses being able to feel the sun."

"She can't feel the sun? That's wack." Amethyst said, frowning again. She shook her head and shoved Stevima with enough force to rock the fusion to the side substantially. "Eh, forget that! You're here, they're not! So what do you wanna do?"

"Oh, uh... I..." Stevima blinked, and turned around to look at the rest of the town, and the temple. "I dunno."

"Well..." Amethyst thought for a moment, then grinned. "I know you don't have a ban from Funland. Wanna go swindle Smiley out of some weird amusement park crap?"

Stevima smiled, and looked down at their twelve fingers, gripping the railing, the wood digging into their skin. They were here, and they were ok, like the eye of a storm amongst their components' troubles. And Funland did have some truly great weird crap.


	5. Chapter 5

**I've never written from Mossy's pov so this was fun! I know the chapters seem short but this is mostly because we're building up to the next fic (and I'm trying to do lots of grown up stuff like buying a house which is a tiny bit stressful)**

 **Once again thanks to squish for betaing and thank you everyone for reading!**

 **see you next week**

Ambition was not a trait prized in agates. Moss Agate had always made it a point to respond to those who made it their job to remind her of this, that technically she was a chalcedony. That didn't impress many of them, but despite that, she had continued to grow in prominence within the fleet. Of course, she had to credit most of her recent success to being close with White Diamond.

Now in Era 3, Moss Agate was indisputably in control of Homeworld's entire fleet. And to be honest, it was a little terrifying. She had never expected to get this far. Which may have explained why she was nervously standing near the warp pad. Nervously waiting for Domina of all people.

She wasn't alone of course, nearly all of the primary fleet section was crowded into the hangar, some for their first look at White Diamond in person, others to see Domina return home for the first time in three years. A diamond visiting always caused a bit of a stir in the fleet but Domina caused a special kind of chaos. Moss Agate could already see technicians and engineers gripping their screens of assorted project details tightly in anticipation.

The five seconds after the time Domina said she would arrive stretched on for what seemed like hours, until the galaxy warp pad finally lit up. Domina and Pearl emerged from the warp stream, both slightly off kilter from the transgalactic warp.

"Alright, you were right, we'll take the ship the next time." Domina said to Pearl, straightening her jacket.

"You let her talk you into taking the Galaxy warp?" Peridot 9NY piped up from her spot with the technicians. Mossy could already see the scant amount of decorum she had hoped for beginning to disintegrate.

"I did once." Pearl said, gently stepping down from the warp pad. Moss Agate did have to admit that it was nice to see the pearl stepping to the forefront of attention, especially when she had such interesting things to say. "And now she'll never want to do it again."

Domina rolled her eyes and grinned at Moss Agate as she followed Pearl off the warp pad. There was still something strange about being tackled by a diamond for a hug but Moss Agate had decided after all these years that she liked it.

"My Diamond," Moss Agate said stiffly, giving Domina a gentle pat on the back.

"Hello, Mossy, how is the new crew adjusting?" Domina asked.

"As well as expected." Moss Agate was interrupted by Domina being yanked away from her by Milky Quartz 9ZQ. _Agate_ 9ZQ.

"Come on, Pebble, you need to meet my squad!" Moss Agate shook her head and allowed the rest of the formalities to fall apart as she turned to Pearl.

"How is she doing?" She asked, keeping her voice low as she always did when asking about Domina's health.

" _She_ says she's fine." Pearl replied.

"Ah, so nothing new on that front."

"Of course not, as if she's going to let a little thing like dying slow her down."

It took Moss Agate a solid fifteen minutes to maneuver Domina out of the hangar and into the meeting room, which was barely unusual in itself. What was slightly more unusual was the way that the elite of the fleet awaited them. Of course the beryls had been on edge since the fleet's newest architect had set foot in the planning room.

"Oh right!" Domina took one large step forward, past several bixbites to address the pale yellow pearl who had been shoved into the far corner of the room. Moss saw the disapproving looks on the beryls' faces and wondered, not for the first time, if Domina did this kind of thing on purpose or if she was truly that oblivious. Granted, Moss Agate would be the first on to admit that the beryls could use a bit of dulling, but with the unrest in some of the outer colonies already under the new laws of Era 3...

"M-my Diamond!" The yellow pearl said, her arms already forming a salute. "Yellow Pearl 6G12. It is an honor to meet you."

"Likewise," Domina said, "You're our new architect. I've seen your designs, they're excellent."

"Domina, we should get started." Pearl said, taking her seat on the right hand side of Domina's seat.

"Right, right, sorry." Domina said gently, taking a step back from the star-struck pearl and taking her seat. Moss Agate took her own and saw Pearl give 6G12 and almost apologetic smile.

The moment a holographic planet flickered into existence, however, Domina was all business.

"My Diamo- Domina" One of the bixbites said, Cut 0RK Moss Agate believed. "Isn't that 23-T72?"

"Correct." Domina said, she gestured to the planet, scarred and torn by previous terraforming efforts. "Completed during Era 1 and reseeded for ship production During Era 3, not really a colony planet perse but suitable for our purposes." There was silence throughout the room.

"Our... what purposes exactly?" 6G12 asked hesitantly. Domina grinned.

"We have had a proposal, by Peridot Facet 2F5L Cut 5XG, brought to my attention by Yellow Diamond." Pearl said as Domina stood to distribute a set of holo screen papers. Moss Agate internally groaned the moment she saw the title. Of course, she should have known this was coming, and it wasn't going to be easy.

"A colony with organic materials used to promote continuous gem production." Domina said, then gestured at the holographic visual of 23-T72. "This is the next step for the fleet."


	6. Chapter 6

**This is coming in late and unbeta'd but I had fun with this chapter! the conversation at the beginning was a lot of fun to write, and setting up this whole organic gem colony thing has been suuuuper helpful for planning out whats going on next fic.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **(warning, there is a shameful amount of homestuck in this chapter, I am horribly sorry)**

"Though really an empire with it's entire reproduction based on a single planet is going to have some defensive weaknesses."

Steven gave Domina a wary glance from his spot next to Peridot, temporarily looking up from their game.

"Well yeah, but you also have to consider Gl'bgolyb."

Yellow Pearl blinked at Connie before going back to the stack of reports in front of her.

"That's true... though presumably we would be immune to the vast glub so we could use it to our advantage."

Pink Pearl rolled her eyes, she'd already heard this speculation.

"And after the glub's released you would just have all these empty planets!"

"Exactly!" Domina said grinning in triumph. "Free for the taking."

"But what would you do about Her Imperial Condescension?" Connie pointed out.

Domina rolled her eyes.

"The Condesce isn't much bigger than me from what I can tell, if all else fails Yellow can just step on her."

"What in star's name are you two talking about?" Yellow Diamond asked, finally turning around in her seat to look at Connie and Domina.

"Nothing." Domina said quickly.

"That comic Connie had her read." Steven said, this time without looking up.

"Traitor!" Connie called, Domina smiled softly.

"Terraforming with all those caverns and tunnels would be a pain anyway." Lapis said, sprawled sideways on peridots otherside.

"Accurate." Peridot glanced up from her screen for just an instant then looked back down and muttered something about porcine invaders. "And Alternia's native fauna does not meet the requirements for any kind of colonization effort."

"its all hypothetical, besides, Connie started it"

"Your the one that started it!" Connie grinned. "You were the one that complained about the transporter improbabilities in star trek!"

Amethyst groaned from her spot, on the other side of Steven from Peridot. "Connie, Dom, Imma be real with you, this entire conversation has been the nerdiest thing in existence, even nerdier than Peridot's Pierccy rant."

"Excuse you, Your discounting the important cultural relavence camp pining hearts has in human popular culture. Pierccy is a microcosm of the camps-"

"5XG" Yellow Pearl interrupted, pinching the bridge of her nose. "We have all heard your 'Pierccy' rant. And if you repeat it I will test the aerodynamics of my shield on you."

Lapis snorted while Peridot sputtered indignantly.

They landed around an hour later. Yellow Diamonds's arm ship was more comfortable, but The Styx could have made the journey from Earth to the closest crystal system colony, 23-T72, in about 20 minutes.

They had an entourage though. It had started with just Yellow and Domina going into check on the project, aptly named "Gemetic Environment Modification through Human Agricultural practices, Radically Varied according to the Environments of planets Stripped by Terraforming" or "GEM HARVEST". Of course once Peridot got wind of their excursion to see 'her' project she wanted to come along. Then of course, Domina had promised Connie a trip off world after she graduated. And _then_ Yellow Pearl wanted to speak with a few of the technicians onsite. That eventually calcified into the group of 9 that stepped out of the arm ship. That was quickly dwindled to 6 the moment the relocated Famethyst spotted Amethyst, Steven, and Connie; leaving the Diamonds, the Pearl along with Peridot and Lapis to meet with Heliodor.

Domina wasn't entirely sure if this was Mossy's way of promoting Heliodor or getting back at her for some sort of slight but Heliodor did seem like she was coping well with the stress of running an entirely new, special division of the fleet, focusing on a new entirely experimental technique.

"it I saw your report 4KV," Domina had her screen up in front of her the moment the Pale Yellow gem approached and begin to lead them through what had been a kindergarten. "Looks like everything's going along smoothly."

"Indeed my Diamon- Domina it seems that the Peridot was right after all on the readings, even just four years after the organic...material and clay mineral compounds were introduced to the soil."

"Well of course I was right, I'm the universes foremost expert on organic agricultural processes!" Lapis cleared her throat and Peridot amended herself quickly. "One of two."

Domina saw Pink Pearl roll her eyes and chuckled softly.

"Has there been any sign of plant growth?" Yellow Diamond peered around the area, still at full height so Domina didn't know how she was expecting to see anything.

"The survey teams have reported some yes, your luminousness." Heliodor said, "Mostly lichen and moss that were introduced previously, though they have spread from the initial-" Heliodor paused and touched her face to feel a drop of water than had just landed on it.

"Is...this rain?" Yellow Pearl stared dumbfoundedly at the sky. The low clouds they had seen upon entering the atmosphere were still there, but they had drifted lower without anyone noticing. Domina, if she focused, could feel her clothes growing damper, as the air began to condense.

"Of a sort." Heliodor frowned. "It should only last for a few minutes, the hazard of turning off the troposphere stabilizers."

"Oh it's not so bad." Domina watched, as Lapis smirked and with the barest gesture dumped water onto a sputtering Peridot.

"It's definitely different." Pink Pearl muttered, she crouched down and gestured for Domina to look at the smattering of green visible at the bottom of what used to be the kindergarten. The holes had long since been collapsed or filled, and there were gems milling around taking readings, coaxing slightly larger plants into the ground. Domina smiled softly, taking in a breath of oxygen that wasn't entirely mechanically produced.

"We're... creating life." Domina said. "Actual life"


	7. Chapter 7

**This is much later than I wanted and honestly it's not really what I intended but here we are. This chapter actually takes place a few months before the last one which is what happens when your writing by the seat of your pants! Hope you enjoy it, and thanks to Squish for betaing as usual.**

 **We have 3 chapters left people, and I'm excited!**

 **see you next week!**

Yellow Pearl was well aware that her relationship with her- with Yellow Diamond was strange. Among the Diamonds' pearls, she occupied the middle ground. She had been proud to be more than a decoration, like Blue Pearl, but to not have the responsibility of keeping her diamond alive, like Pink Pearl.

Now in Era 3, she still occupied a middle ground. Blue ignored and avoided her former diamond, forgoing the social engagements that cropped up as the chaos of Era 3 faded away. Pink carried on as if nothing had happened, though she did step out of Domina's shadow and took on her own projects with vigor, most notably, the decommissioning of Pink Diamond's zoo.

And here Yellow Pearl was, keeping an eye on Yellow Diamond to ensure that she was upholding her end of the treaty agreed upon. Granted, there was quite a bit of grumbling from the Diamond about releasing her personal troops into a collective service but she went along with it. Really though, her diamond was far happier now than she had been in the past... well ever actually now that Yellow Pearl thought of it.

She didn't necessarily know if she was happier though, she felt more like she had simply been pulled along by the New Rebellion and the events leading up of Era 3. Granted, things were better, she wasn't left standing in hallways idle for hours on end, she was working on projects that she was excited about, and she was... important, wanted, needed. Maybe she wasn't always respected, after all, she was still a pearl in meetings with citrines and beryls but she had the backing of two out of three diamonds.

But there was still a feeling that would hit her when she least expected it. That she didn't deserve to be in this place, that she was in over her head on tasks that could shape the empire.

Like this one.

"You can't be serious." Yellow Pearl repeated.

"I've already said I am, Pearl." Yellow Diamond paced in front of her while Yellow Pearl sat perched on her desk. In _her_ space, possession was something she liked, having her own things and not having to hide them away.

"But we've made new gems before," Pearl didn't do more than gesture as she argued with her diamond, granted this wasn't nearly as bad as calling her a clod but it still went against all facets of her programming. "Any gem made after Era 2-"

"Was simply adapted from the existing framework with a minor adjustment to the incubation programming," Yellow Diamond interrupted. "The last truly new gem..." She paused. "Zircons perhaps? Anyway, the last truly new type of gem was entirely programmed by White, she's the only one who knew how any of that worked."

Yellow Pearl frowned "That can't be right, I thought you designed topazes?"

"In that I conceived their purpose and general power set, yes." Yellow Diamond said. "But White did the coding necessary to bring them into reality. With these new kindergartening processes it is unlikely we'll be able to simply further edit the code, at some point something is going to crack."

Yellow Pearl knew this had been talked about in meetings, though she hadn't actually attended most of said meetings.

"But why come to me to fix it." Yellow Pearl pinched her the bridge of her nose and sighed. "My Diamond, why not simply-" She caught herself and Yellow Diamond glanced away awkwardly. "...Why would you come to me to solve this problem and not an emerald or one of the scientists, or even have Domina assign someone to the task?"

"Because Domina would try to take on the task herself, no idea where she gets the idea that she needs to solve each problem personally." Yellow Diamond said, finally coming to a stop and sitting in a chair, bringing herself eye level with Pearl.

"No idea." Yellow Pearl said dryly. Yellow Diamond smirked, and then sighed and fiddled with the portion of her form where the collar of the jacket met her neck.

"And Blue- your Blue," Yellow Diamond clarified, bringing a blush to Pearl's face. "Believes that you would be the best choice based on the work you did with the reformation orb, not to mention that when you get this working you'll bring attention to those of you on the council, further proving the whole point of this new era."

"I don't want to be a symbol." Yellow Pearl said firmly, this was so far out of her purpose, even her new purpose. There was a knock at the door and it opened before either of the gems could say anything. Blue was on the other side, Yellow Pearl's Blue.

"Am I interrupting something?" Blue asked.

Yellow Diamond shrugged. "Nothing other than an argument about your plan. Is Jet available?"

"I believe so yes." Blue Pearl glanced at Yellow Pearl, as if trying to gauge her expression. "She said she wished to speak with you about the unrest in the outer colonies."

"Yes, yes." Yellow Diamond rose to her feet and began to exit the room, before stopping and turning back to face Yellow Pearl. "You can do this."

"I'll think about it." Yellow Pearl said. "I make no promises though." Yellow Diamond left and Blue Pearl turned to her. There was still something about Yellow Diamond's presence that put them on edge, she wondered if it would ever go away.

"You'll think about?" Blue asked closing the distance between them quickly. Yellow stepped down from the desk.

"This is bigger than a reformation orb, Blue. These are lives we're talking about." Yellow Pearl threw her hands in the air dramatically. "This is a new type of kindergarten, so much can already go wrong and you really want a Pearl tampering with the process?"

"No." Blue took her hands gently and lowered them. "I want you to tamper with the process. What's the worst that can honestly happen?"

"It fails catastrophically, wasting time and resources." Yellow Pearl said bluntly.

"So?" Blue asked. "What if any of this fails?"

"Then... then..." Yellow Pearl sunk back to the table, but ended up on the floor with Blue next to her. "Then what are we doing?" Blue put her arms around her and hugged her tightly. And in that moment, she knew she was happy, at least to have Blue.

"Our best. That's all we can do."


	8. Chapter 8

**I looooooved writing this chapter epistalary (writing written in the form of letters) is my favorite style and I had a lot of stuff to lay the groundwork for here.**

 **Thank you to Squish for Betaing, even though I know it's not your favorite style!**

 **see you next week!**

* * *

 **Outer Colonies Mission 5G674 Overview**

FELDSPAR-HGC-4 AND PPEARL-HGC-5 have been assigned to outer colonies mission number: 5G674 by: BPEARL-HGC-1

Estimated Duration: 1 YEAR

* * *

 **Mission Resource Status**

Mission Number: 5G674

FTL BATTLE CRUISER has been assigned to mission number: 5G674

By: WHITE DIAMOND

NOTE: for protection

FTL BATTLE CRUISER has been un-assigned to mission number: 5G674

By: PPEARL-HGC-5

NOTE: Unnecessary

* * *

 **From private textual communication channel between** : WHITE DIAMOND and PPEARL-HGC-5

White Diamond: you need a ship.

PPearl-HGC-5: But not a battle cruiser Domina, a normal, non-military vessel will suffice.

* * *

 **Mission Resource Status**

Mission Number: 5G674

Assigned Personnel Member: WHITE DIAMOND

Assigned By: WHITE DIAMOND

WHITE DIAMOND has been unassigned by: YELLOW DIAMOND

NOTE: Absolutely not.

Assigned Personnel Member: WHITE DIAMOND

Assigned By: WHITE DIAMOND

WHITE DIAMOND has been unassigned by: BPEARL-HGC-1

NOTE: Absolutely not.

Assigned Personnel Member: WHITE DIAMOND

Assigned By: WHITE DIAMOND

WHITE DIAMOND has been unassigned by: PPEARL-HGC-5

NOTE: Check your messages.

* * *

 **From private textual communication channel between** : WHITE DIAMOND and PPEARL-HGC-5

PPearl-HGC-5: Domina, there is no reason for you to go.

White Diamond: yes there is

PPearl-HGC-5: That reason being?

White Diamond: youre going into whats essentially an active rebellion, what if you need help

PPearl-HGC-5: It is not anywhere near that bad. Just a few elites chafing against the new rules.

White Diamond: you still might need help

PPearl-HGC-5: Which is why I won't be alone. Feldspar and I are more than capable of taking care of ourselves and we will have a small squad of soldiers if things get unruly.

White Diamond: which soldiers

White Diamond: have they been added to the resource manifest

White Diamond: ill request their records

PPearl-HGC-5: Jet has already evaluated them, but if it makes you feel better go right ahead.

* * *

 **Mission Resource Status**

Mission Number: 5G674

TRANSCRIPT OF HGC MEETING 6_72_ has been added to the mission by: JPEARL-HGC-2

* * *

 **From private textual communication channel between** : WHITE DIAMOND and BPEARL-HGC-1

White Diamond: so jet the one that didnt want me to go

BPearl-HGC-1: Jet was one of the ones that didn't want you to go, yes.

White Diamond: i can be subtle

 _BPearl-HGC-1 has attached image to the conversation_

White Diamond: did you just have that ready

BPearl-HGC-1: Yellow took it for me, you would be surprised how often I use it.

BPearl-HGC-1: Reaction images aside, I would rather have you here.

White Diamond: i understand, doesnt mean i like it

White Diamond: surely having a diamond on hand couldnt hurt

White Diamond: what if they took yellow

BPearl-HGC-1: Just to clarify, you're implying that Yellow Diamond is more subtle than you?

White Diamond: ...

 _White Diamond has attached image to the conversation_

BPearl-HGC-1: Did you take that picture with your screen's camera?

BPearl-HGC-1: And in a dark room?

BPearl-HGC-1: The lighting and angle are atrocious.

* * *

 **Internal Memo**

Subject: In my absence

Sender: PPearl-HGC-5

Recipients: MossAgate-1R6A-1AA, BPearl-HGC-1, YPearl-HGC-7, GPearl-YDED-6, MilkyQuartz-2X8H-9ZQ

Because I know one of you will mention it; Yes, I am well aware Domina is a fully formed, fully grown, fully capable gem. However I also know that despite being nearly 5,000 years old she is still apparently incapable of making sure she takes care of herself. I'm not asking that you monitor her every movement but please send me an update when you see her, especially if she seems to be acting erratically.

Any requests from the human zoo are to go to Yellow Diamond if for whatever reason I'm unavailable, and for researchers looking to do observational studies, the forms to fill out are non-negotiable. I'm relying on Jet to make sure that they don't try to go through Blue Diamond on this. Mossy, requests will eventually pass on to you if I don't deal with them in a timely manner, you can pass them onto Domina if you like but the subject of the zoo has been bothering her even more since we were actually there and I'd prefer to keep her as uninvolved as possible.

I will be in contact.

-Pink

* * *

 **From private textual communication channel between** : WHITE DIAMOND and FELDSPAR-HGC-4

White Diamond: are you sure you dont want me to come along

White Diamond: i could hide in storage.

Feldspar-HGC-4: Im rlly gonna hope ur joking.

White Diamond: i dont need to eat or anything other than sleep

White Diamond: and i can still do any work remotely

Feldspar-HGC-4: Pink would realize it b4 we go out of atmo and u no it.

White Diamond: yeah

White Diamond: keep an eye out for her please

Feldspar-HGC-4: Course

* * *

 **DATA DESTRUCTION REQUEST**

Data to be destroyed: Hangar footage

Location: Departure Hangar 11

Timeframe: Departure of interplanetary vessel registered to Outer Colonies Mission Number 5G674

Requested by: White Diamond

Reason: Embarrassing emotional displays. Please just delete it

* * *

 **Mission Resource Status**

Mission Number: 5G674

REPORT ON OUTER COLONY PLANET PLAKOR has been added to the mission by: PPEARL-HGC-5

* * *

 **From private textual communication channel between** : YELLOW DIAMOND and BPEARL-HGC-1, JPEARL-HGC-4

JPEARL-HGC-2: Should we have expected the resistance to be so vehement from the skilled classes?

Yellow Diamond: I did, that's where the early reports started. Skilled classes are more likely to owe their status due to merit rather than cut.

BPEARL-HGC-1: That tracks.

JPEARL-HGC-2: Of course it doesn't help when your elites are egging them on.

Yellow Diamond: I'm willing to discuss this later. However, according to Pink the problem has been temporarily solved.

JPEARL-HGC-2: On that planet.

BPEARL-HGC-1: Jet, save it for the meeting please.

* * *

External Messaging Service

Subject: Domina Update

Sender: suniverse.413

Recipients: PPearl-HGC-5

Hey Pink!

Domina was here today and we healed 12 gems at once! I think stevima's getting stronger which is good? And also kinda scary. Domina was alright though, we watched movies afterwards and her and Connie debated that "Things we Carry" book and it was kind of deep. I sent her home with a big bag of gummy worms. The gems and Sabina have other things to say so I'm going to type them up below!

-Steven

Domina seemed distracted, we tried practicing but she fell off the sky arena twice. After that we kept to the Strawberry Battlefield.

-Pearl

No complaints here, me and stevima went and hung out with greg, Apparently they can shred on the bagpipes, which is only like... kind of as lame as it sounds?

-Amethyst

Yeah she's out of it but how often have you two been apart? Nothing a little food won't fix, even if she technically doesn't need to eat.

-Sabina

White Diamond is fine, she watched 3 hours of camp pining hearts with myself and Lapis and had some enlightening thoughts on season 3. Also she successfully improved my design on the popcorn maker, it now works at the speed of light WITHOUT blowing out the barns circuitry

-Peridot

Yeah she's fine.

-Lapis

Domina will be fine, but you should make sure that the room is empty before you relax.

-Garnet

* * *

 **Mission Resource Status**

Mission Number: 5G674

MISSION REPORT POST EVENT'S ON HELIOTROTH has been added to the mission by: FELDSPAR-HGC-4

* * *

 **From private textual communication channel between:** YELLOW DIAMOND, BLUE DIAMOND, FELDSPAR-HGC-4 and JPEARL-HGC-2

YPearl-HGC-7: Is she alright?

Feldspar-HGC-4: She's fine, poofed but fine, securities been increased, we'll be in low orbit until she reforms.

Blue Diamond: I don't suppose that anyone has informed Domina that her pearl was dissipated?

JPearl-HGC-2: Domestic Law 1.001

Blue Diamond: My meaning was made clear, though of course not literal.

Yellow Diamond: Of course.

* * *

 **Mission Resource Status**

Mission Number: 5G674

Transcript of emergency transmission to Interplanetary Vessel Registered to Outer Colony Mission Number 5G674 has been added to the Mission by FELDSPAR-HGC-4

Transcript of emergency transmission to Interplanetary Vessel Registered to Outer Colony Mission Number 5G674 has been removed from the Mission by WHITE DIAMOND

* * *

 **From private textual communication channel between:** WHITE DIAMOND and JPEARL-HGC-2

JPEARL-HGC-2: Recordings shouldn't be deleted from official record.

WHITE DIAMOND: noone needs to listen me and pearl arguing for an hour and a half

WHITE DIAMOND: and me crying

WHITE DIAMOND: and her crying

JPEARL-HGC-2: I'll let it slide.

WHITE DIAMOND: thank you for your mercy

* * *

 **From private textual communication channel between** : WHITE DIAMOND and PPEARL-HGC-5

PPearl-HGC-5 has attached image to the conversation

White Diamond: i like your hair.

PPearl-HGC-5: Thank You, the peridot says we should have video capabilities by the time we leave the planet.

White Diamond: good id really like to talk

PPearl-HGC-5: Me too.

White Diamond: how many days till you come back

PPearl-HGC-5: 300 exactly.

White Diamond: good call me if you need me and yellow to come look intimidating.

White Diamond: i miss you

PPearl-HGC-5: I miss you too Domina, see you soon.


	9. Chapter 9

**So I said there would be a different format and that fell through, instead I substituted it with an idea i've had rolling around in my head for a while. theres still one more chapter coming, though that one is definitely more of a direct set up to next fic (and I'm so so so excited for it.) So this chapter is... the "end" of inter, I needed something that was going to set a tone for the next fic (title of which will be on the blog sometime in the next few weeks, with a cover).**

 **Anyway, this is unbeta'd so hopefully it's still enjoyable.**

 **See you guy's next week.**

* * *

"Yellow, you can't be serious." Blue Diamond barely looked up from the report she was reading. A decade ago this would have been a dream come true for Yellow Diamond, Blue actually doing her job. Now though she was more hurt by the fact that Blue wouldn't even look at her. Feeling nothing from her fellow diamond was so how more upsetting than grief.

"Blue, have I ever joked about anything?" Yellow stood on the other side of the translucent pale blue screen and hesitated. If their roles were switched, as they often had been before era 2,then Blue would have sat practically on Yellow's lap and knocked her screen aside. Yellow was more polite than that.

"True..." Blue Diamond sighed and slid away her screen. "I just can't imagine you at any party, much less one for an organic planets yearly rotation."

"Steven invited me." Yellow had been to most of the New Year's parties in beach city. And while she didn't quite understand the human species need to celebrate something as trivial as an orbital rotation, she had come to enjoy and look forward to it. The group from Homeworld that went had only grown to include all of Homeworld's governing council, plus others. It was a time to truly relax from all the chaos that was Homeworld in the early years of Era 3. And a time to reflect on just how far they'd come in so little time.

And despite all her many problems, a part of Yellow wanted Blue there.

"Ah that explains it, the empire will quite literally grind to a halt for that child." Blue rolled her eyes.

"He's worth it," Yellow replied without hesitation. Of course Blue still wasn't completely behind them. She played along well enough but when they got to the specifics of forming councils or approving missions she let her feelings known.

"So you say, and so Domina says, which makes sense." Blue gave her a pointed look and Yellow sighed.

"Not just because Domina say's so," She said through gritted teeth. "But that's beside the point. You should come, Your the one that is always trying to get me to attend more events."

"Yes, gem held events, with your gems, our gems." Blue looked... somehow more tired than she had been for the past 6000 years. "Back when things were as they were supposed to be."

"Supposed to be!?" Yellow started pacing furiously. "You really want to go back to that?! To go back to shattering gems for stepping a toe out of line, to go back to being pushed by White to keep going farther, keep doing more."

"That not what I meant and you know it Yellow! Your so blind, so focused on your own problems."

"Oh don't even start, you have no room to berate _me_ for being focused on my own problems."

"That's because you didn't have what Pink and I had!" Blue was on her feet now and there was a wave of blue creeping out from her. Yellow held her ground. "You and White were always close, she looked to you for everything."

"She trusted you with more information than she ever gave you!"

"THat doesn't mean she liked me! She didn't care about either of us but at least she respected you and your work." Blue stamped her foot furiously. "You may have never seen below her mask but at least she didn't dismiss you to 'go deal with the architecture Blue, I'm far too busy to be the faintest bit interested in the culture that my planet is developing.'". Yellow did have to admit, Blue's impression of White Diamond was pretty good. That didn't change her exasperation, or save her from the tears of frustration rolling to the surface.

"Blue-"

"I'm not done. I had pink, she cared about what I was doing, she was interested. She didn't blindly follow White and copy her eye rolls." Blue's voice broke. "And then White took her from me."

"And me! You think I don't regret every star's cursed word I ever shouted at her."

"But it wasn't the same! After Pink was gone, you still had White, I had no one!"

"You had me!" Yellow gritted her teeth and took a step forward, but Blue wasn't listening.

"And now you have Domina, and I still am alone!" She shouted, crumpling back into her seat, as graceful as ever. The wave of blue was as strong as ever but Yellow made it over to her fellow Diamond, and sat down. They had always touched a lot, even though White had disapproved and warned them against fusing. But... even if what Blue had said was true to a certain extent, Yellow had never had this kind of relationship with White, even at her softest moments.

She pulled Blue Diamond close.

"You still have me." Yellow's voice was soft, she still remembered how to talk through the tears, and pressed on despite the lump in her throat that... probably was a result of Blue's powers. "You'll always have me." It took awhile but the aura subsided even though Blue still clung to her jacket.

"I..." Blue Diamond hesitated. "I shouldn't go," she chuckled softly, a laugh Yellow missed so much. "I'm sure you would rather have Pearl there than me and putting us in close proximity had proven to be a bad idea." Yellow winced, those two's arguments were responsible for most of the damages to the citadels main hall in the last few years.

"True, though nothing says you have to interact, just think on it? Please Blue."

New Years in Beach City had grown from a quiet bonfire party along the coast to something of an event. With the addition of newly healed Crystal gems the humans of the down were almost outnumbered during the holiday, but the town took it in stride, just like they did everything else.

Domina landed earlier that day with Zee and Mossy to get their section of the beach set up. Forrest joined not long after and was quickly caught up in helping Sabina and Peridot set up a fireworks display. Steven and Connie were enthusiastic as always, helping greg set up some sound equipment for Sadie Killer to do a set while they were in town.

More gems began to fill in,the Famethyst and Holly Blue, members of Forrest's team, Blue and Yellow Pearl, dragging Jet along with them. Sodes even made an appearance, though she kept to the edges until dragged in by Mauve to mingle with the Off Colors. Yellow Diamond, who took her customary spot as far away from the humans as she could get while still being within conversation distance, did look a little disappointed, though Domina wasn't sure why. She knew why _she_ was disappointed. Domina kept looking to her left while she made jokes, or grabbing two drinks, even though pearl rarely drank.

" You really miss her don't you?" White Pearl asked. Domina was startled by this question for multiple reasons, chief among them being that White Pearl rarely ever spoke to her casually.

"I..." Domina sighed and nodded. "I know she's not going to be gone much longer." _100 days_ Domina's brain instantly supplied.

"I just don't think I've ever seen a diamond so despondent over a pearl." White said with a smirk. Domina rolled her eyes.

"Please I get enough of that from Jet, and I heard allll about your reaction when steven went to go stay with Connie a few months ago. White Pearl's cheeks instantly colored blue.

"That is completely different."

"I'm sure it is." Domina said, she offered the cup of punch to White pearl who frowned, but took it, and immediately handed to Greg.

And then it got dark, a lot faster than normal. There were gasps and Domina sighed and looked up, then blink puzzled.

"What is she doing here." White Pearl asked, not quite... angry, but baffled and irritated all thrown into one. Domina did a scan of the crowd, Blue Pearl had gone still and Jet was rolling her eye, as irritated as ever. Yellow Diamond looked, shocked, but not necessarily surprised, she glanced at Domina. And gave what could only be called an apologetic smile, though it was more like a grimace from a gem who had not thought ahead.

It didn't take long for the assorted disaster scenarios to start filtering through Dominas head. She downed the punch in one gulp, which was probably not the best idea in hindsight, and wiped a red rimmed mouth on the back of her hand.

"Oh good!" Domina said in a voice much louder than necessary, a little air manipulation to bring the attention to her. "I thought she wasn't coming." She then paused and looked at Blue Pearl and internally winced. The pearl looked hurt, and Domina tried to keep an awkward smile from crumbling off her face. "Sorry, I should have asked."

"It's... fine Domina." Blue Pearl's voice was more resigned than 'fine', and the looks from the other pearls weren't great. Yellow Diamonds embarrassment was palpable though, hopefully just to Domina otherwise this would be twice as awkward.

"Why did would invite her?" Sabina asked from the other side of White Pearl. Domina shrugged.

"Pearl is ninety percent of my impulse control." She said evenly. Steven groaned.

"Domina, that meme is really old..."

"Yes well so am I." Domina turned to Steven the jumped to avoid whipping up too much sand as she began to ascend. "I'll make sure she knows where to park and doesn't accidently crush anything!"

It didn't take much to lead Blue to the clearing near the barn where the styx was parked along with several other ships. It did take a good portion of Domina's nerves to wait for Blue Diamond to exit. She wasn't scared of Blue Diamond, just... Apprehensive. She did her best to be cordial but their relationship was cracked deeply. Then again, new year, new start. That was a nice thing about Earth.

The bubble opened around Blue Diamond and she looked down at Domina apprehensively.

"Blue Diamond." Domina said, she didn't rise, it wasn't worth the risk.

"Domina," Blue Diamond hesitantly continued. "Yellow, invited me."

"I assumed so." Domina shrugged trying to remain casual. "It's an open invitation to anyone who is willing to be as unobtrusive as a group of sentient space rocks can be." Blue Diamond's mouth quirked upwards.

"I certainly can do my best." Blue Diamond shifted awkwardly.

"That's all any of us can do." Domina smiled, then gestured towards the warp pad. "Anyway, come on, I'd rather not miss the band."

"Ah.. yes Earth music." Blue Diamond said.

"And.. you might want to come down to a more manageable size."

"Of course." There was a flash and Blue Diamond was just a little taller than Yellow. Domina nodded, trying not to think about how before they had actually talked like this, how at one point Domina had actually felt closer to Blue than Yellow, just because she did do this. "Lead the way." Blue Diamond gestured to the warp pad. Domina nodded and turned, then stopped.

"I am glad your here by the way." Domina said hesitantly, "That your giving this a chance." Blue Diamond pursed her lips.

"I didn't do this for you."

"Good, that means it might mean something."


	10. Chapter 10

**So, remember how this fanfic is for a show called Steven Universe? yeah, weird right? I've never written a chapter from Stevens point of View, so I thought I better give it a shot.**

 **Besides, I had to end this fic on a bang.**

 **I'll see you guys in the notes at the bottom.**

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It was Connie that opened it in the end. Which made sense, Steven should have known that Connie would know how to pick locks. It was a skill that definitely belonged on her 'Everything a YA hero should know how to do' list.

In the loft turned bedroom, Steven dragged the chest out of Lion's mane from where the cat was sprawled on the bed and narrowly managed to avoid dropping in on his foot.

"Wow, so you never found the key?" Connie asked kneeling next to it with lock picks in hand.

"Nope, Pearl didn't know anything about it and I never found anything at the fountain, or in her room, or the base, or buried under the temple." Steven plopped next to Connie on the floor, crossing his legs.

"You checked under the temple?"

"Yeah, like... around the sand, and I asked Mauve and she had no clue where it could be, neither did Garnet."

"Huh, weird, you would think your mom would have left something like that where you could find it." Connie stuck her tongue out the side of her mouth.

"You would think..." Steven grumbled. This wouldn't be the first time his mom had forgotten to tell him something important, like the moss that nearly ate him and Lars, or her secret alliance with pink diamond, or even how any of his powers worked! Thankfully most of that seemed to work itself out. And it hadn't even ended with him like, dying and meeting his mom and becoming a gem, that wasn't something he wanted.

Since meeting Domina, it seemed like he had just gotten more and more questions about what he was supposed to be as someone that wasn't quite gem and wasn't quite human. And now, as once again, the only gem hybrid in the universe, he was finally finding an identity he felt comfortable with. The last ten years had been good. He had finally gotten a chance to breathe, with the most stressful thing in his life being trying to help gems get used to life on earth. And he loved doing that.

But he also loved Connie and growing up with her. They were still as inseparable as they had been when they were kids, even though she had been away at Colombia in Empire City for a good portion of the year. Steven looked to his nightstand and thought about the black box sitting in the back of it. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, and he couldn't do that as a gem.

"Got it!" Connie said as the lock clicked open.

"Yeah!" Steven cheered getting to his feet, he put a hand on the chest lid and stopped. He saw Connie's grin fade as his own did. There was a long moment where the only sound was the beach outside and Lions snore. Thankfully he was stopped from going forward by the rumbling of his stomach.

"Hey... maybe we should go get some pizza."

"So what do you think's in there?" Steven asked Connie from across their usual table at Fish Stew Pizza. The building had been full from the lunch time rush when they arrived, but now, half a pizza later, it was mostly empty. It was Kiki's day off so Larimer was at the counter, where she was reading a fashion magazine that Jenny was fond of.

The gem population was the biggest around Beach City, though quite a few wandered out into the rest of the world, rounding up the remaining corrupted gems or just living their lives. Some, mostly those that had been Homeworld gems, had gone back to Homeworld and seemed to be doing pretty well from what he had heard from Yellow Pearl and Domina.

Connie hummed through a slice of pizza, jolting him back to their current conversation. "War stuff?"

"Maybe? But what else is there left to say?"

"Well a lot but, maybe that's where she put all the stuff she wanted you to know?"

"Maybe..." Steven's hand drifted to grip the shirt over his gem. Maybe it was the truth about him? Maybe Rose Quartz wasn't as gone as everyone thought she was.

"Steven..." Connie's hand was placed over his other hand, comfortingly, before it gently brushed his cheek stubble. "Your you, what happened to Domina was an anomaly, you two figured that much out."

"Yeah I guess." Steven shrugged, leaning his cheek into her hand. "Oh you never told me what your advisor said about your new thesis idea!"

They didn't go back to the beach house until later that evening, instead they spent most of the day wandering Beach City, talking, playing games at funland and eventually Stevonnie was the one that made their way back to the beach house.

And they were the ones that decided to sit in the bed, next to lion and finally begin to lift the lid on the chest.

"Ok, what do we have here." They let the lid fall back and right on top was a key.

Stevonnie burst into laughter.

Under that was a stack of old photos, each on with a picture of one of the gems, or Greg or Lion, and each with Rose Quartz's neat handwriting on the back.

Stevonnie smiled and set the stack aside. Below that was a pile of yellowed college brochures and travel guides. Then there was a layer of pressed flowers from around the world, sketches, more pictures. It was like everything in Rose's dump in the middle of the desert, combined with everything in the vault. And it was all about the earth, not some magical destiny, not some hidden agenda, just the planet the Crystal Gems had fought for.

Stevonnie felt relief from... someone, maybe it was their own.

"Alright, so no answers but that's ok." Stevonnie said, a little disappointed. Then they peered at the bottom. "Oh there it is, that's a little more like what I was expecting." They retrieved an envelope from the bottom of the chest. "Gems are nothing if not dramatic."

They read opened the letter, smile slowly fading.

"Oh no." they muttered, then reread it again. "Oh nooooo-"

There was a flash of light and the two of them slumped to the floor.

"-ooooooooooo." continued Steven. Connie looked over the letter.

"I mean... it makes sense." Connie said.

"Yeah, I know but..." He sighed and dug around in the chest for another moment before carefully pulling out a pink flower. It had delicate petals and it's center was a glittery pink, like gem shards. Steven looked back at the letter, then at the flower that he had seen on the man-eating moss so many times. The center looked exactly like gem shards. "I didn't expect to find Pink Diamond's shards like this."

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 **It's been a long time coming but Domus Die Adamantus (Home of the Diamonds) will begin posting next week!**

 **It's been ten years since the end of Seditionis Adamas and Era 3 is proving to be absolutely unprecedented. Not everyone's happy about with the changes though. The Diamonds have been joined by those who previously opposed them from the shadows in governing homeworld, Pearls are free and any gem may hold just about any position. It should be perfect but there are still tremors within homeworld, the gempire, and… even beyond. Both Steven and Domina will be digging within the past to uncover things that may have been better to leave alone.**

 **I'm really excited to share this story with you guys and I hope you like what I have to tell.**

 **see you guys next week**


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